COMMUNITY FORUM

Choosing an AC system--complex problem

My apartment is on the 12th floor of a 16-story Manhattan building built in 1929. It is heated with steam radiators. It has no AC.

The windows are double-hung (they slide open vertically). To reduce traffic noise, I'm adding interior windows. These will open by sliding horizontally.

I don't want to get window AC units because the interior windows would have to be completely open when the units were in use. Also, the rooms, which are too large for low-profile window units, have river views. I'd rather not sacrifice the views in any room except the kitchen.

The co-op board probably won't let me install thru-the-wall units.

I'd like to cool the 180 sq ft kitchen, 253 sq ft dining room (which I'll use as a home office), 318 sq ft living room, 253 sq ft master bedroom, and 209 sq ft second bedroom, a total of 1213 sq ft. The ceilings are nine feet, with 1-foot-deep beams. All rooms have Western exposure except the second bedroom, which has Eastern exposure.

I wonder what you think of these options. Please see floorplan at http://members.aol.com/kirtaylor/FloorPlan.gif

1) Install two condensers in the kitchen window beside the washer-dryer. Drop the ceiling there to accomodate an air handler. Duct the air handler out to the home office.

Put another air handler in the closets between the two bedrooms. Duct it to the living room.

Run the returns through the adjacent second bedroom and hallway closets, across the hallway, and back to the condenser through the kitchen cabinets.

I've been told that this kitchen window isn't big enough for ductless condensers (e.g. Mr. Slim), but it is big enough for two ducted condensers.

2) Get portable units. The interior windows would still have to be partially open for the vent, but not all the way. The portables are easily removed. I would want the kind that doesn't require water pan emptying.

There are a couple problems with what you suggest. First, I've been told I'll need 12000 btus in the home office and 9000 in the living room and master bedroom. I don't think 8000 btus will suffice. Second, I want curtains, hung from the same height in side-by-side windows. Transom units would preclude curtains, wouldn't they? Third, I don't want anything permanently installed in the windows. (I don't want to have the interior windows made to accomodate window units which would then have to be permanently in place.)

I should have mentioned that this is a very high end apt. and I'm not looking to stint on AC.

Central AC appeals to me because it would allow for year-round ventilation without my having to open windows. But portable units are appealing because they don't involve ductwork.

Are there disadvantages with central that I'm not considering? How noisy are the air handlers, compared to, say, a 12000 btu thru-the-wall unit, which is what I had in my old apt.? Should I put an air handler in a hallway closet, rather than a bedroom closet?